"I want my town cleared up. I heard some remarks from behind that (city council) desk that made me hurt. Will they be seeing me? You bet! I hope the people that are in there are ready to make some positive changes."

Outgoing Council President Benjamin Iannucci III, defeated by retired construction project manager Joe Blocker, also promised to remain active as a citizen.

"I want my town cleared up. I heard some remarks from behind that (city council) desk that made me hurt. Will they be seeing me? You bet! I hope the people that are in there are ready to make some positive changes."

Outgoing Council President Benjamin Iannucci III, defeated by retired construction project manager Joe Blocker, also promised to remain active as a citizen.

"I won't stop going to meetings. My involvement with the city is not going to stop," Iannucci said. "I'll keep going to the meetings and I'll let them know when I disagree with the direction they're going and I'll let them know when I agree with them."

He promised to continue supporting the Family Entertainment Center arts and sports complex he proposed.

In Laurel Hill, Mayor Joan Smith was defeated in her bid to return to the city council but likewise promised to remain involved in the community.

"I don't have the problems some people do about losing. I've got nothing to be ashamed of or hide," Smith said. "I'm just proud that we have a council that is workable."

Smith and Iannucci said that they would be able to accomplish more as private citizens without the restrictions placed on elected officials.

"You don't realize until you're on the council how handcuffed you are with certain things you can or cannot do based on (Sunshine) laws," Iannucci said. Open-meetings laws, in most cases, ban secret meetings among public officials.

"Our hands were tied sometimes," Smith said. "I like working together: People working together, that accomplishes so much. I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I'll do whatever I can to help our city."